Post ACtevHiE9X44aGqYIy by Azraeil@nnia.space
 (DIR) More posts by Azraeil@nnia.space
 (DIR) Post #ACtevHiE9X44aGqYIy by Azraeil@nnia.space
       2021-10-30T02:43:14Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       A lot of people don't seem to understand that "I am ok as I am and there's no need to be ashamed of myself" and "I should grow and change and work on my flaws" are not mutually exclusive.A lot of online communities centered around neurodivergency or mental health have fallen into the trap of "If I accept myself as I am, if my condition is valid, that means I don't need to work to change any of my destructive habits and I don't need to break the cycles I am in. My condition renders me helpless so anything I do is excused by my condition." No, you won't see anybody literally say this exact thing, because it sounds more shocking if you put it into words like that. But this is the exact mindset a lot of people take on whether they realize it or not. I notice this most often with teens.You see, working on yourself doesn't mean you need to be ashamed of your condition or think that something is wrong with yourself. You don't even need to have negative emotions or guilt towards something destructive that you do - you just need to acknowledge it should be worked on, and do what you can to rectify it to the best of your ability, if it is something that hurts yourself or others. You can take a very neutral and matter of fact attitude towards it. Such as "Ok, this thing my OCD compels me to do has hurt others, so I should start taking steps to stop that from happening." See? Shame or self hatred is NOT necessary in order to admit you need to change.You aren't brushing your condition under the rug and you aren't downplaying it's severity by admitting that you do have the power to mitigate many of its effects. You DO have control over the vast majority of your behavior, you CAN make drastic changes to how you function and interact with others, you are not helpless no matter how severe your condition is. Will it necessarily be quick or easy? No! It could be a long journey to improve. I get how stubborn some symptoms can be. But never ever fall into the trap of thinking you can't do anything about it, or that changing necessitates shame or lack of self acceptance.